SB 238: "An Act relating to education funding; relating to the public education fund; relating to the base student allocation; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 238 01 "An Act relating to education funding; relating to the public education fund; relating to 02 the base student allocation; and providing for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 14.03.150(c) is amended to read: 05 (c) The department may not award a school construction or major 06 maintenance grant under AS 14.11 to a municipality that is a school district or a 07 regional educational attendance area that is not in compliance with (a) of this section. 08 The department shall reduce the amount of state aid under AS 14.17.410(b) 09 [AS 14.17.400] for which a school district may qualify by the amount, if any, paid by 10 the department under (b) of this section. 11 * Sec. 2. AS 14.17.410(b) is amended to read: 12 (b) Public school funding consists of state aid, a required local contribution, 13 and eligible federal impact aid determined as follows: 14 (1) state aid equals basic need minus a required local contribution and
01 90 percent of eligible federal impact aid for that fiscal year; basic need equals the 02 amount appropriated by the legislature for state aid, distributed proportionately 03 to a district according to the district adjusted ADM of the district [SUM 04 OBTAINED UNDER (D) OF THIS PARAGRAPH, MULTIPLIED BY THE BASE 05 STUDENT ALLOCATION SET OUT IN AS 14.17.470]; district adjusted ADM is 06 calculated as follows: 07 (A) the ADM of each school in the district is calculated by 08 applying the school size factor to the student count as set out in AS 14.17.450; 09 (B) the number obtained under (A) of this paragraph is 10 multiplied by the district cost factor described in AS 14.17.460; 11 (C) the ADMs of each school in a district, as adjusted 12 according to (A) and (B) of this paragraph, are added; the sum is then 13 multiplied by the special needs factor set out in AS 14.17.420(a)(1) and the 14 secondary school vocational and technical instruction funding factor set out in 15 AS 14.17.420(a)(3); 16 (D) the number obtained for intensive services under 17 AS 14.17.420(a)(2) and the number obtained for correspondence study under 18 AS 14.17.430 are added to the number obtained under (C) of this paragraph or 19 under (H) and (I) of this paragraph; 20 (E) notwithstanding (A) - (C) of this paragraph, if a school 21 district's ADM adjusted for school size under (A) of this paragraph decreases 22 by five percent or more from one fiscal year to the next fiscal year, the school 23 district may use the last fiscal year before the decrease as a base fiscal year to 24 offset the decrease, according to the following method: 25 (i) for the first fiscal year after the base fiscal year 26 determined under this subparagraph, the school district's ADM adjusted 27 for school size determined under (A) of this paragraph is calculated as 28 the district's ADM adjusted for school size, plus 75 percent of the 29 difference in the district's ADM adjusted for school size between the 30 base fiscal year and the first fiscal year after the base fiscal year; 31 (ii) for the second fiscal year after the base fiscal year
01 determined under this subparagraph, the school district's ADM adjusted 02 for school size determined under (A) of this paragraph is calculated as 03 the district's ADM adjusted for school size, plus 50 percent of the 04 difference in the district's ADM adjusted for school size between the 05 base fiscal year and the second fiscal year after the base fiscal year; 06 (iii) for the third fiscal year after the base fiscal year 07 determined under this subparagraph, the school district's ADM adjusted 08 for school size determined under (A) of this paragraph is calculated as 09 the district's ADM adjusted for school size, plus 25 percent of the 10 difference in the district's ADM adjusted for school size between the 11 base fiscal year and the third fiscal year after the base fiscal year; 12 (F) the method established in (E) of this paragraph is available 13 to a school district for the three fiscal years following the base fiscal year 14 determined under (E) of this paragraph only if the district's ADM adjusted for 15 school size determined under (A) of this paragraph for each fiscal year is less 16 than the district's ADM adjusted for school size in the base fiscal year; 17 (G) the method established in (E) of this paragraph does not 18 apply to a decrease in the district's ADM adjusted for school size resulting 19 from a loss of enrollment that occurs as a result of a boundary change under 20 AS 29; 21 (H) notwithstanding (A) - (C) of this paragraph, if one or more 22 schools close and consolidate with one or more other schools in the same 23 community and district and, as a result of the consolidation, basic need 24 generated by the district's ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under 25 (A) - (C) of this paragraph decreases, the district may use the last fiscal year 26 before the consolidation as the base fiscal year to offset that decrease for the 27 first four fiscal years following consolidation according to the following 28 method: 29 (i) for the first two fiscal years after the base fiscal year, 30 the district's ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under (A) - 31 (C) of this paragraph is calculated by dividing the sum of the district's
01 ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under (A) - (C) of this 02 paragraph for the base fiscal year by the sum of the district's ADM of 03 the consolidated schools for the base fiscal year without adjustment, 04 and subtracting the quotient obtained by dividing the district's ADM of 05 the consolidated schools for the current fiscal year as adjusted under 06 (A) - (C) of this paragraph by the sum of the district's ADM of the 07 consolidated schools for the current fiscal year without adjustment, 08 multiplying that number by the sum of the district's ADM of the 09 consolidated schools for the current fiscal year without adjustment, and 10 adding that number to the sum of the district's ADM of the consolidated 11 schools for the current fiscal year as adjusted under (A) - (C) of this 12 paragraph; 13 (ii) for the third fiscal year after the base fiscal year, the 14 district's ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under (A) - (C) 15 of this paragraph is calculated by dividing the sum of the district's 16 ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under (A) - (C) of this 17 paragraph for the base fiscal year by the sum of the district's ADM of 18 the consolidated schools for the base fiscal year without adjustment, 19 and subtracting the quotient obtained by dividing the sum of the 20 district's ADM of the consolidated schools for the current fiscal year as 21 adjusted under (A) - (C) of this paragraph by the sum of the district's 22 ADM of the consolidated schools for the current fiscal year, 23 multiplying that number by the sum of the district's ADM of the 24 consolidated schools for the current fiscal year without adjustment, 25 multiplying that number by 66 percent, and adding that number to the 26 sum of the district's ADM of the consolidated schools for the current 27 fiscal year as adjusted under (A) - (C) of this paragraph; 28 (iii) for the fourth fiscal year after the base fiscal year, 29 the district's ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under (A) - 30 (C) of this paragraph is calculated by dividing the sum of the district's 31 ADM of the consolidated schools as adjusted under (A) - (C) of this
01 paragraph for the base fiscal year by the sum of the district's ADM of 02 the consolidated schools for the base fiscal year without adjustment, 03 and subtracting the quotient obtained by dividing the sum of the 04 district's ADM of the consolidated schools for the current fiscal year as 05 adjusted under (A) - (C) of this paragraph by the sum of the district's 06 ADM of the consolidated schools for the current fiscal year, 07 multiplying that number by the sum of the district's ADM of the 08 consolidated schools for the current fiscal year without adjustment, 09 multiplying that number by 33 percent, and adding that number to the 10 sum of the district's ADM of the consolidated schools for the current 11 fiscal year as adjusted under (A) - (C) of this paragraph; 12 (iv) to calculate the district's basic need for each fiscal 13 year, the number obtained through the calculation in (i), (ii), or (iii) of 14 this subparagraph is added to the number obtained under (C) of this 15 paragraph for the remainder of the district; 16 (I) if the basic need calculated under (H)(i) - (iii) of this 17 paragraph for one of the first four fiscal years after consolidation is less than 18 the basic need calculated under (A) - (C) of this paragraph for that fiscal year, 19 the basic need may not be adjusted under (H) of this paragraph for that fiscal 20 year; 21 (J) a district may not offset a decrease under (H) of this 22 paragraph if 23 (i) a new facility is constructed in the district for the 24 consolidation; or 25 (ii) the district offset a decrease under (E) of this 26 paragraph in the same fiscal year; 27 (K) a district that offsets a decrease under (H) of this paragraph 28 may not reopen a school that was closed for consolidation in the district until 29 (i) seven or more years have passed since the school 30 closure; and 31 (ii) the district provides evidence satisfactory to the
01 department that the schools affected by the consolidation are over 02 capacity; 03 (L) a district may not reopen and reconsolidate a school that 04 was consolidated in the district more than once every seven years for purposes 05 of the calculations made under (H) of this paragraph; 06 (M) a district offsetting a decrease under (H) of this paragraph 07 shall provide the department with the list of schools participating in the 08 consolidation and the corresponding ADM; 09 (2) the required local contribution of a city or borough school district is 10 the equivalent of a 2.65 mill tax levy on the full and true value of the taxable real and 11 personal property in the district as of January 1 of the second preceding fiscal year, as 12 determined by the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic 13 Development under AS 14.17.510 and AS 29.45.110, not to exceed 45 percent of a 14 district's basic need for the preceding fiscal year as determined under (1) of this 15 subsection. 16 * Sec. 3. AS 14.17.430 is amended to read: 17 Sec. 14.17.430. State funding for correspondence study. Funding [EXCEPT 18 AS PROVIDED IN AS 14.17.400(b), FUNDING] for the state centralized 19 correspondence study program or a district correspondence program, including a 20 district that offers a statewide correspondence study program, includes [AN 21 ALLOCATION FROM THE PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND IN] an amount 22 calculated by multiplying the ADM of the correspondence program by 90 percent. 23 * Sec. 4. AS 14.17.440(a) is amended to read: 24 (a) Funding [EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN AS 14.17.400(b), FUNDING] for 25 state boarding schools established under AS 14.16.010 includes [AN ALLOCATION 26 FROM THE PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND IN] an amount appropriated by the 27 legislature [CALCULATED BY 28 (1) DETERMINING THE ADM OF STATE BOARDING SCHOOLS 29 BY APPLYING THE SCHOOL SIZE FACTOR TO THE STUDENT COUNT AS 30 DESCRIBED IN AS 14.17.450; 31 (2) MULTIPLYING THE NUMBER OBTAINED UNDER (1) OF
01 THIS SUBSECTION BY THE SPECIAL NEEDS FACTOR IN AS 14.17.420(a)(1) 02 AND THE SECONDARY SCHOOL VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL 03 INSTRUCTION FUNDING FACTOR SET OUT IN AS 14.17.420(a)(3) AND 04 MULTIPLYING THAT PRODUCT BY THE BASE STUDENT ALLOCATION; 05 AND 06 (3) MULTIPLYING THE PRODUCT DETERMINED UNDER (2) 07 OF THIS SUBSECTION BY THE DISTRICT COST FACTOR THAT IS 08 APPLICABLE TO CALCULATION OF THE STATE AID FOR THE ADJACENT 09 SCHOOL DISTRICT UNDER AS 14.17.460]. 10 * Sec. 5. AS 14.17.500(a) is amended to read: 11 (a) A district shall prepare and submit to the department by November 5 of 12 each fiscal year, in the manner and on forms prescribed by the department, an estimate 13 of its ADM and other student count data, including per school student count data, for 14 the succeeding fiscal year upon which computations can be made to estimate the 15 amount of state aid for which the district may be eligible under AS 14.17.410(b) 16 [AS 14.17.400] in the succeeding fiscal year. In making its report, the district shall 17 consider its ADM, other student count data, the pattern of growth or decline of the 18 student population in preceding years, and other pertinent information available to the 19 district. 20 * Sec. 6. AS 14.17.610(b) is amended to read: 21 (b) Distribution of state aid under (a) of this section shall be made as required 22 under AS 14.17.410. If a district receives more state aid than it is entitled to receive 23 under this chapter, the district shall immediately remit the amount of overpayment to 24 the commissioner, to be returned to the general [PUBLIC EDUCATION] fund. The 25 department may make adjustments to a district's state aid to correct underpayments 26 made in previous fiscal years. 27 * Sec. 7. AS 14.17.900(b) is amended to read: 28 (b) Money to carry out the provisions of this chapter may be appropriated 29 annually by the legislature [INTO THE PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND. IF THE 30 AMOUNT APPROPRIATED TO THE FUND FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS 31 CHAPTER IS INSUFFICIENT TO MEET THE ALLOCATIONS AUTHORIZED
01 UNDER AS 14.17.400 - 14.17.470 FOR A FISCAL YEAR, STATE AID SHALL BE 02 REDUCED ACCORDING TO AS 14.17.400(b)]. 03 * Sec. 8. AS 37.07.020(b) is amended to read: 04 (b) In addition to the budget and bills submitted under (a) of this section, the 05 governor shall submit a capital improvements program covering the succeeding six 06 fiscal years. The governor shall also submit a fiscal plan with estimates of significant 07 sources and uses of funds for the succeeding 10 fiscal years. The fiscal plan 08 (1) must include sufficient details to identify 09 (A) significant sources of funds; 10 (B) significant uses of funds, including lump sum projections 11 of 12 (i) operating expenditures; 13 (ii) capital expenditures; 14 (iii) debt service expenditures; 15 (iv) fund capitalizations; 16 (v) appropriations of income of the Alaska permanent 17 fund (art. IX, sec. 15, Constitution of the State of Alaska), if any; 18 (2) must balance sources and uses of funds held while providing for 19 essential state services and protecting the economic stability of the state; 20 (3) must include projected balances of significant funds held in 21 separate accounts, including the budget reserve fund (art. IX, sec. 17, Constitution of 22 the State of Alaska) [, THE PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND (AS 14.17.300),] and the 23 Alaska capital income fund (AS 37.05.565); 24 (4) must set out significant assumptions used in the projections with 25 sufficient detail to enable the legislature to rely on the fiscal plan in understanding, 26 evaluating, and resolving issues of state budgeting, including information that supports 27 major areas of operating increases, such as population demographics that affect the 28 need for particular government services. 29 * Sec. 9. AS 14.17.300, 14.17.400, 14.17.470, 14.17.480(b), and 14.17.490(c) are repealed. 30 * Sec. 10. This Act takes effect July 1, 2024.